Hundreds of Pampa residents still without power

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Sunday night's storm caused damages, such as this uprooted tree near Grand Street and Interstate 40, and power outages across the Texas and Oklahoma panhandles. The storm produced lightning, winds up to 90 mph, and tennis ball-sized hail.

A widespread storm system moved across the Texas and Oklahoma panhandles Sunday night, producing intense lightning, winds up to 90 mmph and tennis ball-sized hail for some areas, and meteorologists said there may be more in store for the beginning of the week.

Xcel Energy spokesman Wes Reeves initially said there were 12,814 customers without power around 3 a.m. Monday. By 7 a.m., 2,429 were still without power, he said, including 1,195 in Amarillo, 936 in Pampa, 277 in Borger, 17 in Canyon and two in Dumas.

“We are bringing additional personnel into Pampa to help the local crews,” Reeves said Monday morning. “We have worked all night and will be working throughout the day to restore power to our customers.”

After 2 p.m., the number affected dropped in all places except Pampa. Reeves said 1,175 customers still without power included 13 in Borger, eight in Amarillo, one in Canyon and 1,079 in Pampa. The number rose after crews arrived and found more problems than expected, he said.

By about 8:45 p.m., all but 237 Pampa residents had their power restored.

“We had hoped to wrap this up tonight but we’ve run into a lot of damage,” Reeves said by email. “We’re bringing in fresh crews at midnight and will work around the clock. By noon (Tuesday), we hope to have everyone who can receive power back on. There will be a small number we can’t restore until property damage is repaired.”

Donny Hooper, director of public works for the city of Pampa, compared the wind and rain-filled storm to what he said he believed a tropical storm would look like. He said his department was still assessing damages Monday afternoon, but had already counted 150 damaged street signs.

In addition, he said multiple structures, both residential and commercial, had been damaged by high winds and falling debris. Hooper said the storm damage was inconsistent, leaving some buildings fairly damaged while their neighbors remained untouched.

“There was quite a bit of damage throughout town,” Hooper said. “Buildings that had metal roofs seemed not to fare too well. We’re cleaning up as fast as we can go.”

Amarillo received just over an inch of rain in Sunday’s storm, said meteorologist Andrew Moulton with the National Weather Service in Amarillo, bringing totals this year to 9.2 inches, about a third of an inch above the city’s year-to-date average. Moulton said most areas north, east and south of Amarillo received between 1 and 1.25 inches of rain, but areas west of Hereford measured less than half an inch.

The NWS is looking into the possibility that a weak, short-lived tornado touched down near Beaver County, Okla. Reports say the twister would have touched down in an open field and remained on the ground for only 15 to 20 seconds.

Winds from the storm were severe and Moulton said much of the Texas Panhandle saw winds in excess of 40 mph. A NWS station outside of Pampa recorded one gust of 93 mph. There are reports of downed trees and power lines in the Pampa area, said Moulton.

Multiple reports of pea-sized hail were received, Moulton said. Residents in Canadian reported golf ball-sized hail, but meteorologists said the most dangerous area for hail was Darrouzett, where residents reported hail the size of tennis balls.

Moulton called Sunday’s storms “pretty prolific lightning producers,” and said the intensity of the electrical storm was more than the area had seen for some time. At times, Moulton said, residents could see consistent lighting from horizon to horizon.

About 10:10 p.m. Monday, NWS meteorologists estimated that Dalhart could see up to an inch of rain as a storm system loomed overhead. Meteorologists said it was possible that a separate storm system would develop over Amarillo by about 2 a.m. Tuesday with the potential to drop a quarter-inch to an inch of precipitation.

Moulton said there was a 30 percent chance for storms for Amarillo and the Texas Panhandle Tuesday night before chances are expected to taper off toward the end of the week.